Also, Rory would probably be aiming for a Magister position in the kingdom. He would seek to reduce the influence of religion and divine magic on common people, and do what he can to draw all kinds of researchers to the Stolen Lands, perhaps even found a college.

Sorry about the delay, but I didn't realize I had been recruited in the second wave. I can change my guy around a bit once we know who is playing to fill any gaps.

Hopefully, everyone will check in from the new group. i've been looking through the AP, and there's only a few instances where the current selected group would be missing a helpful ability (trapfinding) but i have some ideas to take care of that.

One would be that survival and/or relevant knowledges, could apply.

for example, survival or knowledge nature would give a person some ability to spot a good location to put a trap.

There's no reason I couldn't switch my character from cleric to druid if it helps the game. We'll need to see if more people show up, but the extra skill points and options would probably be helpful to the group overall.

I'll work on that tonight and try to get a full profile up. Do you want me to play the cleric or druid? Both worship the same god and have an animal companion, so there's little difference. I'll get to work once I get off work tonight.

I'll work on that tonight and try to get a full profile up. Do you want me to play the cleric or druid? Both worship the same god and have an animal companion, so there's little difference. I'll get to work once I get off work tonight.

go with whichever you find better, personally i'd think druid gives you a slightly more flexible character, in terms of skill points, but slightly less healing capability.

At the moment, I'm thinking a big cat (lion, tiger, etc.). I could also see a big rhino or dino, since this critter and the group's fighter-type will be the front line of the party.

I think I'll stick with cleric given the likely group makeup. We'll probably be able to deal out a fair amount of damage but not too many high defenses. I'll have good heals, spell utility and the pet will offer extra damage and help the front line.

Here's my cleric of Eranstil. He will pick up an animal companion at fourth level, but until then he can help hold the front line himself. He'll either go for a big cat for lots of attacks or something that hits very hard once and go for vital strike and such.

He has a longbow as favored weapon, and can wade into melee thanks to his strength and domains. He can even cast Enlarge Person on himself and someone else on the front line to really lay down the damage.

As the cavalcade has stopped and set up camp, Rory has vanished in a nearby meadow for an hour. He returned with a bag full of herbs, flowers, pebbles, and differently-coloured dirt. Producing a small cauldron out of his saddlebags, he began brewing a strange concoction. The dizzying smell has spread across the camp, and it wasn't long before one of his companions, a cleric of some sort, started complaining that he's denying them their deserved rest after a full day on horseback.
"What are you talking about?" Rory spouted, genuinely surprised. "I can't feel anything." He puffed an acrid cloud from his smoking pipe right in the face of his vis-a-vis, who immediately had a coughing fit. "Your throat is sore, kid. You better take this here powder, will help you stay in shape until we reach the border. Put it in boiling water, leave for 5 minutes under moonlight and then drink in one go. Now, off you go, before I spoiled my dose of mutagen for tomorrow".

After the brewing was over, Rory, still smoking his ever-present pipe, came up to Gunther, who was busy cleaning and oiling his musket. "So, taking care of your baby, I see? Say, I think I asked you this already, but are you sure you don't have the recipe for that black powder of yours written anywhere? I mean, you're probably going to run out of it one day, and my guess is you could use a friendly chemist who can mix up some more for you. And I could definitely use some of that powder on that one peculiar elixir I'm working on. I've already tried the oxigenated sulphur, the brown nitrogenous gas, and the ammonia hydrate, but there seems to be some crucial property missing. I'm linking it to the evanescence of the phlogistonous substance, which I think your powder might just be able to alleviate."

Ever since his early adolescence, Gunther has been on the road, and some of his journeys lasted months, so a 2 day ride is something he's used too. In the last days he has been very impatient to reach their destination as soon as possible. The opportunity to reclaim the Stolen Lands on behalf of the Swordlords of Brevoy will finally secure their relationships with Gunther's family, so the young cavalier couldn't believe his luck when the charter was given to him. He feels the pressure on him, but he's determined not to disappoint.

At the camp, the boiling concotion draws his attention, but he loses a bit of interest when he realizes that it's not something to eat. He still has to grasp who exactly his new companions are, and if he can really trust them enough to found an entire reign with their help. He keeps a corteous and respectful attitude with them, but never lets his guard down. During his years as a ambassador and a proteges he saw countless power games and betrayals, so he knows that a man deserve trust only once his actions do.

I am afraid dat I don't hav a recipe vritten down, dear Sir, but I can shov that hov to prepare the powder if you wish he replies to Rory with his thick Ustalavian accent. Dis veapon is most definitely something you need to get used to, and I'm still in the process. But I don't think dat I can help you designing dat elixir of yours, for you see in my education and upbringing, alchemy vas not included.

If you don't mind some advice Sir Eamon, I'd suggest you pull 3 points out of your dexterity and put them into your wisdom. That way you still have a dexterity of 14 and a wisdom of 13. Which will come in handy when your paladin starts gaining spells and give you a +1 to your Will save instead of a -1. Trust me that can be a VERY good thing to have.
Still when all is said and done this is only my opinion, it's your character you can do whatever you want with it.

If you don't mind some advice Sir Eamon, I'd suggest you pull 3 points out of your dexterity and put them into your wisdom. That way you still have a dexterity of 14 and a wisdom of 13. Which will come in handy when your paladin starts gaining spells and give you a +1 to your Will save instead of a -1. Trust me that can be a VERY good thing to have.

Still when all is said and done this is only my opinion, it's your character you can do whatever you want with it.

Not a bad idea. -If- I stay an archer paladin, I'll pull the points from Strength instead.

If you don't mind some advice Sir Eamon, I'd suggest you pull 3 points out of your dexterity and put them into your wisdom. That way you still have a dexterity of 14 and a wisdom of 13. Which will come in handy when your paladin starts gaining spells and give you a +1 to your Will save instead of a -1. Trust me that can be a VERY good thing to have.

Still when all is said and done this is only my opinion, it's your character you can do whatever you want with it.

But Paladins cast spells from Charisma, not Wisdom. Though an high Wis is certaily a good thing to have, it is not vital for a Paladin to cast spells. Halloran, I think you mixed things up with the Paladin class from D&D 3rd edition: in that edition he actually used Wis instead of Cha, but they changed it in Pathfinder.

The paladin can cover our face needs, so we just lack trap finding and someone to hold the front line.

If needed, I can switch to druid again and help hold the front line with a pet. I also can build a barbarian or ranger to do much the same thing. Barbarian has a big hit die and bonuses against traps and both barbarian and ranger have skills that would fit this game well.

I can't build anything today since I'll be traveling. I'll be with family early Monday, but that night I can whip up something if needed. Lemme know.

The paladin can cover our face needs, so we just lack trap finding and someone to hold the front line.

If needed, I can switch to druid again and help hold the front line with a pet. I also can build a barbarian or ranger to do much the same thing. Barbarian has a big hit die and bonuses against traps and both barbarian and ranger have skills that would fit this game well.

I can't build anything today since I'll be traveling. I'll be with family early Monday, but that night I can whip up something if needed. Lemme know.

Why should be pigeonholing ourselves into party "roles"? Physical ranged, magic support... Look, my character's an ambassador, mostly a pacifist, and he has a musket. What role is that? I don't know/care, I just want to help building a new nation. What I'm saying is: play whatever you want to play the most, don't play a druid instead than a cleric just because we lack "frontline".

Well, party roles may not be so important to figure out, but if we don't figure out combat roles, we'll be obliged to do so with our -next- characters after the TPK. Roleplaying is wonderful, but we need to survive to get to the next encounter.

I wonder if a trapfinder is so very important in an adventure said to be mostly wilderness. What worries me is our lack of a front-line warrior. More specifically, I'm concerned that my archer paladin will be obliged to ignore his strength as an archer and -be- the front line warrior.

Frankly, I'm okay with that, but I'll be a lot happier knowing that going in. I'll just make him a more traditional paladin with sword and shield or focusing on a greatsword.

@Eamon:
I'm not a rules expert, so sorry if what I'm going to say doesn't make sense, but I think you could try to make a "1-shot" archer, using the Quick Draw feat. This would allow you to start the combat with a ranged full attack (including Smites!), and if the enemies survive the initial barrage, drop the bow and switch to a 2hander as a free action. Or even to sword and shield if you have a shield with a quickdraw property. High dex is also useful to a sword and shield build.

i'm going to open a new recruitment to try and get a second group from people still wanting, and will put up the official IC thread tomorrow, and we'll get rolling, obviously Thanksgiving will be taking away from people's post times but we'll persevere :)

i'm going to open a new recruitment to try and get a second group from people still wanting, and will put up the official IC thread tomorrow, and we'll get rolling, obviously Thanksgiving will be taking away from people's post times but we'll persevere :)

Two wizards, right? Enod and Halloran?

Hey, Enod: Do you have a specialization?

Who is the Cavalier? I'd like to discuss combat roles with him or her.

I'll work on barbarian stats tonight. No pet, but lots of HP. I'll keep a very similar backstory and location. He's likely to just have less patience and more likely to help defend against wild animals and bandits.

I've never made a barbarian before, so please feel free to offer suggestions. It seems Weapon Focus, Power Attack, Cleave, Dodge and Toughness would all be good feats. I know many like Superstition; if I change it means I wouldn't benefit too much from the wizard's buffs. If I just let him go before me, that should fix the problem. Otherwise, not too many people cast buffs every round.